THIS IS CORRECTED VERSION OF THIS STORY.
NYPA's hydroelectric plant lessened and did not worsen the effects of Hurricane Irene on the Schoharie Valley more than 350 people were told in Schoharie Thursday evening.
The public meeting at the Holiday Inn Express was very unusual but necessary to answer some concerns and criticisms that have been expressed against NYPA since the flood, Mr. Hait said.
"The Power Authority doesn't do this," he said at the start of his presentation.
"They don't have public meetings. It's a very rare occurrence."
The meeting, though, was needed, he said.
"It's become apparent to us that the rumor mill is out of control."
The amount of water coming into NYPA's reservoir's was always more than the amount of water being released, said Lynn Hait, regional manager of NYPA's central region.
"The dam did not worsen the flood," Mr. Hait said. "The dam lessened the water flow down stream."
He noted the devastating effect of the flood on Prattsville, which is upstream of the Power Authority.
The facility, he said, was not designed for flood mitigation. What flows in, flows out.
The peak inflow into the reservoir was more than 129,000 cubic feet per second while the peak outflow was 118,000 CFS, Mr. Hait said.
During the course of the August 28 storm, the outflow remained less than the inflow, he said.
"We were able to clip the peak," he said. "We do what we can, when we can."
He estimated the reduction at about eight percent.
Schoharie County officials, along with those from towns in the county, have agreed to file a notice of claim against the Power Authority holding it liable for some of the flood damage.
The Power Authority was not generating power during the storm though its three gates had to be opened to prevent water from overtaking the NYPA's earthen dam, Mr. Hait said.
The gates, he said, open at one foot a minute and it takes 42 minutes for the gates to completely open.
The opening of the gates was interrupted by a power failure when the gates were three and a half feet open and had to be completed with diesel generators.
The opening of the gates, he said, did not cause a wall of water down the Valley.
Many people in the Valley have said that a wall of water in the afternoon of August 28 worsened the flood.
In December, county officials said a major release of water raised the water level significantly on the afternoon of August 28.
Like many people, NYPA officials thought Hurricane Irene would go further east and not make a direct hit over the Catskills.
The storm dumped more than 16 inches of rain in the Windham, Tannersville area, the source of the Schoharie Creek.
On the morning of August 28, the National Weather Service predicted that the rain would cause a peak water flow of 11,000 CFS, Mr. Hait said, "not a big deal. Not concerned at all, except we kept looking out the window."
The heavy rain continued, there was flash flooding on roads and gauges failed.
"Tropical Storm Irene fooled everybody," he said.
"It is the storm of five centuries. The storm of eight generations."
To lessen the outflow of water, the NYPA had four pumps working to send water to the upper reservoir, a very rare occurrence, and had three gates open.
For the first time in its history, the NYPA had to activate the Emergency Action Plan at the site.
"We believed we were looking at doomsday."
At the worst of the storm, the water was only 1.75 feet below the normal full operating level of 900 feet and 11.75 feet below the top of the dam.
Losing the NYPA dam "would have been catastrophic," Mr. Hait said.